Improvement in fire-place stoves



NITED STATES PATENT Trice.

IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-PLACE STOVES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,312, dated April 12, 1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARsrtALL D. WELL- MAN, of the cityof Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennslyvania, have invented a new and usef'ul Improvement in `Open Fire-Places; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference. being had to the an. nexed drawings, forming part of this specification, in whichy Figure l is a frontview of an openlire-place constructed with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the center of the fire-place at a a', Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rear view of my improved fire-place. Fig. 4 is a top view of my tire-place. Fig. 5 is a'horizontal section through the tire-basket at o o, Figs. l and 2. Fig. 6 is a' horizontal section below the gratebars throughz z, Figs. 1 and .2.

In the several gures like letters of reference denote similar parts.

My improvements are designed to accomplish the following important results, viz first, to give a more perfect control over the combustion ofthe fuel, so that the tire may be made to burn up and give out a great degree of heat, or be caused to burn slowly while still emitting considerable heat, as may be desired; second, to effect a saving of fuel by regulating its consumption and more perfectly utilizing the heat emitted therefrom, and by causing a larger proportion of heated air to pass into the apartment to be warmed 5 third, to secure a more perfect ignition and consumption of the fuliginous and gaseous products of the coal; fourth, to prevent the soot and fine ashes from passing from the chimney and fire-place into the room.

` To enable others skilled in the art to make use of my improvements, I will proceed to describe the construction and operation of an open lire-place on my improved plan.

' Fig. lis a` front elevation of a parlor tireplace, consisting chiefly of a front piece or arch. a rewall and tire-basket, aslrpan, smoke-dues and dust-pipes, and screen for preventing soot or dust from falling into the smoketlues, all of which parts are connected together, and are designed to be set into the wall between the jambs or side walls, and immediately under the throat of the chimney.

The front piece or arch, a, of the fire-place may be made of cast-iron in one piece, and

with it are connected m ediatel y or immediately all the other parts of the nre-place. When the nre-place is set in the chimney, the front piece, a, is set out a short distance from the front wall of the chimney, so as to leave a space on both sides and on top for the circulation of air around the fines and back wall, which will thus become heated, and thence (having no access to the chimney) will pass into the room. The space around the archl and between it and the wall of the chimney maybe covered with ornamental perforated iron-work, or openings may be made in the front piece near the bottom for the entrance of cold air, and at the top for the exit of heated air, in which case the edgel of the front piece may be set close up to the wall.

'Ihe fire-walll b of the fireplace may be made eitherof cast-iron or tire-clay tile, and extends from the bottom'plate, d, of the fire-place to the horizontal top plate or eovering,j. The bottom plate, d, and top plate, j, surround the lues and pipes and lire-wall, and extend around them backward and ou either side to the walls of the chimney, and thus inclose a space back of the tire-wall, through which the air circulates from and into the apartment, as before stated, the top plate preventing the passage of air up the chimney otherwise than through the ues and dustlpipes. The bottom plate, d, is situated at the level of the top of the ash-pan c, and the top plate being sitnate near the top of the arch or front piece, a. The lower part of the tire-wall b rests on the bottom plate, d, and is fastened by bolts or otherwise to the front piece, c.

c is the grate or nre-basket, the horizontal bars of which, forming the fire bed, extend backward into the fire-wall b, as seen in Fig. 2. The fire-wall b may be shaped, as shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, so that its horizontal seetion will be semicircular, or it may be semielliptical or have three plane sides. Whatever may be its shape, the back part of the wall, fronting the opening of the fire-place', slopes or inclines forward and upward t'rom the level of the grate-bars of the fire-basket at an angle of about forty-five degrees toward the. top plate, j, of the fireplace. This peculiar conformation of the back part of the fire-wall is an important feature of my improvement, andv has the effect of allowing the air to pass up along the surface of the sloping wall back of the re, ,and of deflecting the air upon the fire, and thus burning vthe unconsumed smoke and gas. It also prevents the fuel before it is eoked from packing against the back. wall and obstructing the passage of air, because coal when thrown together loosely in a heap will assume naturally an angleof about fortylive degree to the horizon, and this angle, whatever it may be, which the fuel naturally assumes, is the angle at which I propose to set the back part of my fire-wall. It may be varied in different lire-places to suit vthe peculiar description of coal to be burned but lind the angle of `forty-five degrees toA suit with bituminous coal.

Between the top of the fire-wall 11 and the front piece, a'is an opening,g, (which is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4,) through which the smoke vand flame from the fire pass into the shorthorizontal flue f on top of the top plate,

j', so'tlrat the smoke escaping from the iiue f passesl up the chimney. The mouth of the short ilue f is closed (when the fire-place is not in use) by a slide, t', which hasr a horizontal plate, 7c, attached to it resting on the top plate, 1f. The plate 7c has an orifice, I, corresponding with the'mouth of the vertical flue m, which orifice is so situate that when the slide is pushed back by the rod n so as to openv the horizontal iiue f, the mouth of the vertical flue m is also open; but when the flue f is l closed," by drawing forward the rod a, the plate k slides forward and closesv the vertical i'ue In the rear of the fire-wall bis placed a vertical iiue, m, which opens at l (see Fig. 2) through the top plate,k, and extends down below' the level of'the grate-bars, where it opensv into lthe space loelowvthe grate and above the ash-pan e. The lower end of the flue m is always open, and vthrough it passes an upward current` of air (when its mouth at lis open) from under ,the tire-basket, carrying with it any line ashes vwhich fall from the fire-grate, and which might otherwise pass outwardinto the' roo-m. The dust thus borne by the draft into the air-iiue m will either be carried upward through the top plate, j, and fall down' the dust-pipe p into the ash-drawer e, or will drop down again through the vertical iiue m, and thus also pass into the ash-drawer c, so that the `air-flue m cannot possibly become choked. i 'In the bottom plate, d, above the ash-drawer e, is a grating, q, (see Figs. 5 and 6,) which also extends under the air-flue my, the grating Q allowing-'the ashes and fine cinders from the fire and from .the air tlue m to fall into the ash-drawer e, which lies under vthe bottom plate, d, 'and extends under the tiue m and dust-pi pes v p, as well as under the iirebasket- On either side of the air iiue m is a vertical dust-pipe, p; These two dust-pipes p extend from thetop plate, j, to the bottom plate, d, (see Figs. 2 and 3,) opening through the top plate', j, into the chimney and through the bottom plate', d, intol thedust-drawer c. The openings inthe 'bottom plate, d, at the bottom of the'dustpipes p-are furnished with slides 1*,

which may be opened orclosed atpleas'ure by rods s.s,.extending to the `Vfront of the fireplace on either side, and which will be concealed by a fender.

Yallelto each othenand one above another,

but do not touch. These strips are placed in two series, which meet atthe top, risingfrom the inner edge of the openings at the top of .the dust-pipes to a point vertically over the air flue m.V As these strips t t all incline downward from the apex on either side, and each one in the descending series extends a little farther from the center than the strip` above it, the smoke can pass up freely between the strips into the chimney; but no solid substancesecu dust, or ashes-can lind. their y above it, excepting'through the'ilues f and m and dust-pipes p p, as before explained.

'In the lire wall b are Ia number of vertical air-passages, v o, which extend upward from the level of the grate-bars to a point about that at which the fuel is to reach inthe firebasket. These air-passages are simplyfluted recesses in the fire-wall to. allow air to pass upward back of the fuel in thegrate. They are made larger at bottom than at top, or tapering upward, so that any cinders or ashes which collect in them will easily drop out or may be removed by a touch from the poker. One such tluted recess o occurs just over each space between the grate'bars c', so that the air i hereinafter explained', will also close the airpassages and prevent the access of air to the back part of the fire.

Under the horizontal grate-bars of thefirebasket, and in immediate contact therewith, are a-series of bars, u u, one under each gratebar c', forming a sort'of double grate. To each of these bars u is pivoted a slat or strip-of iron, w, by which the space between the bars may beclosed. These slats are attached to the barsy u u'by a pin projecting' from their upper edge at each end, so that they may han gdown when the spaces between'th'e bars are opened, and as the bars aare thinner than the grate; bars above them, and the slats are alsoy thin, the slats do not, when hanging down, contract the spaces between the bars. On the lower side of each slat, at its front end, is a project-v ing pin, w, which enters a slot in a sliding bar, y, (see Fig. 1,) so that when the sliding bar y ismoved to one side, the slats con-Y nected with it by the pins .z are all simultaneously turned on their pivots until the lower edge-of each `Slat comes in` Ycontact with the bar a next' to it, thus closing the space between thc bars and preventing the passage of air throughA them. The ashes which settle between'the gratebars soon close any interstices through which the air might pass by reason of the slats not fitting closely to the bars. There are two sliding bars, y and yf, to openfand close the slats replaced end to end in front of the fire-place under the grate-bars, and in front of the bars u, to which the slats are pivoted, half of the slats u being operated by one sliding bar, y, and the remainder by the other sliding bar, y. The sliding bars may be operated simply by pushing them backward and forward with a poker, or by means of ratchetteeth in the end of the bars engaging the cogteeth of a pinion, z, worked by a button, o, proiecting from the front a of the tire-place.

Instead of pivoting` the slats to an under grating placed beneath the grate-bars, as just described, the slats may be pivoted immediately to the grate-bars, or otherwise so attached to the under side of the fire-basket c as to be turned simultaneously to close or open the spaces between the grate-bars atpleasure.

Having thus described the construction of my improvement in fire-places, I will briefly explain its use and mode of operation.

M yimproved replace is peculiarly adapted for burning the more bituminous description of coal, such as cannel-eoal and stone-coal, which yield a large amount of smoke, gas, and fine ashes 5 but it may be used with equal advantage in many respects with anthracite and other coals which are but slightly bituminous.

When a tire is to be freshly built in my fireplace, the buttons o are turned so as to draw the sliding bars y and y to either side, and thus open the space between the grate-bars in the under side of the fire-basket, and also open the air-passages n in the fire-wall. The rod u is also pushed back, which opens the smoke-ii uef an d air-line m. The slides r at the bottom of the dust-pipesp are closed, being opened only when it is desired to clean the dust-pipes of any soot or dust which may have fallen down the chimney, while the spaces between the grate-bars are left open, so as to allow air to pass freely between the bars and up the air-passages o in the fire-wall. The fire in the grate will burn briskly, and the fuel will consume rapidly, giving out a great de gree of heat, because the free supply of air, especially to the back of the fire, causes a thorough ignition of the fuel and of the smoke and gas evolved therefrom, and thus produces a large body of iiame with little unconsumed smoke or gas. By this arrangement and the sloping ofthe fire-wall the smoke and gas are almost entirely consumed instead of passing up the chimney, as is the case with fireplaces of ordinary constructicn, and thus a great saving of fuel is effected. When the fuel is fully ignited, the slats may be closed, which excludes the air from the air-passages n, and

prevents its passing up betweenthe gratebars. The ,tirewill th en burn slowly, but will still emit a sufficient heat, the surface of `the l fuel in the fire-basket remaining red-hot, and

burning downward until all is consumed. The fire will `remain in this condition, with the slats closed, for a much longer time than in ordinary grates, and will not require stirring or the replenishment of fuel. When fresh fuel is added, the slats may be opened slightly, so as to admit sufficient air to consume the smoke and gas, and then closed again, when the fuel becomes coke'd. lThe air-Hue m serves to draw up any dust or ashes that fall from the fire-basket, Iand keeps up a good draft in the chimney without having a large opening to the smoke-flue f, which should be. opened so far only as to prevent the fire smoking. The space in the rear ofthe fire-wall of the fireplace, inclosed above and below by the top plate, j, and bottom plate, d, serves as an airheater. The cool air, entering from the apartment near to the ground and circulating around the heated back wall, b, and flue m, is warmed, and rising passes out into the room higher up.

It is well known by those who are in the habit of using bituminous coal that large quantities of soot collectin the chimney, which, when the res are put out in summer, and sometimes even when there is a fire in the grate, falls down the chimney into the room, to the destruction of carpets and other articles of furniture. To. avoid this, housekeepers usually stop up the threat of the chimney in summer, thereby preventing the passage of air up the chimney, which is important for ventilation, and rendering it impossible to light a fire without removing the obstruction, which is always attended with a downfall of soot or dirt. My arrangement ot' dust-pipes and lattice-screen placed over the air-due and smokeflue eiectually prevents any fall of soot into the room, as all such matters fall on the screen and are thereby conducted to the dust-pipes, whence they may be discharged into the ash-drawer by opening the slides r r.

When the fire-place is not in use, the damper 7c may be drawn forward so as to close the smoke-fluej'entirely, when the air-Elue m will 'i also be closed; or, if preferred for the pur. poses of ventilation, the damper lr may be drawn forward sufficiently to cover the airflue m without entirely closing the smokeflue f.

What I claim as my invention, and desire. to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. rI he use in the back and side Iire-walls of fire-places of iiutes extending downward from a point about the ordinary level of the' top of the fuel, and gradually increasingin size until they terminate at the level of the grate-bars of the fire-basket, the lower end of each such iiute coinciding with Aan opening between the grate-bars, for thc purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The use of a series of horizontal strips or slats placed underneath or between the bars and independent thereof, and so arranged as to turn on their axes, closing` or opening at pleasure the ai r-spaces between the gratebars.

3. Slopiug the back or rire wall forward over the lire from a point at or below the level of the fire-bed, so that the coal or fuel will not be inclined to pack down against the back wall, and thus allowing the upward passage of the air between the back wall and the fire, substantially ias .hercinbefore described.

4, The combination of the lattice or screent with the air-tlue m anddust pipe or pipes p,

for the purpose of preventing the descent of dust or soot into the fire-grate and collecting them in a separate receptacle7 substantially as described.

5. The use of the sliding cap 7c, when so arranged in combination with the air-flue and slnolreue as to close them simultaneously.

In testimony whereof I, the said MARSHALL D. WELLMAM, have hereunto set my hand.

' MARSHALL I). WELLMAN.

In presence of J AMES OLD, W, BAK-EWELIV.. 

